Manufacturers of work stations and consoles of the sort used in computer operation facilities work to a large extent in a custom or semi-custom furniture environment where the design and style of their products changes from project to project. As well, equipment consoles, work stations and the like include work surfaces designed paying particular additional concern to the ergonomic requirements of their users. As a result, these work surfaces will also change from one customer to another. The ergonomic considerations require that the edges of the work surfaces be properly contoured and finished. Particularly in higher end products, aesthetics are also an important consideration.
Custom work tends to be expensive and the more so the greater number of parts unique to the job at hand. Accordingly, adaptability of a custom edging system for different work surface configurations and designs significantly reduces costs in terms of both part fabrication and work surface assembly. Parts inventories can be reduced and economies of scale resulting from a longer production run for a single configuration are attained.
Known edging techniques include "casting" of edge materials, using polymers, onto the work surface core. This method is used primarily for production of relatively small work pieces and requires a mould, itself a specialized tooling, which encapsulates the entire work piece. Another method makes use of an extruded rigid or semi-rigid spine and a softer covering material. Existing co-extruded edges of this sort however are not conformable to curved core edges, do not allow for larger protrusions from the work surface core and generally lack the refinements needed to effectively hold the outer moulded or extruded skin in place in complete contact with the spine.
The lack of larger edge sections from this known method is particularly disadvantageous. Beyond a certain size, these pieces simply lack the strength necessary to provide commercial durability. People leaning on the edges, impacts from chairs and carts and ordinary wear and tear in the working environment simply break these treatments down.
Another known technique is the installation of a rubber or rubberized skin (e.g. PVC cushion) onto a wood spine. This is relatively efficient but only for those fabricators who know what they will be making tomorrow. This technique allows little or no flexibility of layout or shape and for those therefore in the semi-custom environment, this is not an economic alternative.
And yet in work surface design, a finished, padded gentle "waterfall" edge is generally recognized as ergonomically important. Such edge or nosing treatments provide a gentle transition between the user's limbs and the horizontal work surface. The feel is important as well, particularly the temperature feel of the edge in contact with the user's limbs. Traditional plastic laminates are cold and don't provide the "warmth" of self-skinning polyurethane. Plastic laminates will also chip and crack from chair and cart impacts whereas padded edge systems are bump and impact absorbent.